Pleasant Grace
by Gracie Holmes
Summary: Naomi works on Anna in her office, after she's been brought back to Heaven, intending to fix her again. One-shot, Naomi-centric, season 4/5 nonspecific timeline.
Meanings of names had never been particularly important to Naomi, either in common tongue or in Enochian. When one had most recently worked on an angel whose name meant 'friend of God', who'd leveled a village and killed four angels, one tended to disagree with the naming system.

Anael. Otherwise know as Anna Milton; her name meant 'grace of God'. But the actions she'd done had been the opposite of graceful. The opposite of appreciating the gift of grace and power from their Father. It'd been against every part of who they were. Anna had ripped out her grace, abandoned her family and home and went to live a human life. It was treason, and a desperate move for any angel.

Naomi wanted to ensure she would never do something like that again. Anael had so much potential, she was a warrior. Skilled and intelligent in war and peace. It'd be a tragedy to lose her in the growing wave of the coming Apocalypse.

Anna sat in defiance in Naomi's office. Her angel form was struggling against the bonds, and the appearance shifted between the image of their vessels and the trueness of their divine forms.

Six wings, four faces, twelve talons, two hands, inexplicable light from within each angel. That gave way to a rumpled redhead young woman and a prim auburn haired middle-aged one. One with defiant hazel eyes, the other with patient blue ones.

"Anael, you must stop struggling. We've been here before." Naomi said calmly, walking around her desk. She'd unbuttoned her suit jacket, giving the illusion of informality. "And you know if you struggle it'll only get worse."

"It's Anna!" The wayward daughter of God retorted, with a fiery gaze. "My name is Anna. And you cannot do this to me. You're a monster."

Naomi crossed her arms at the insult but didn't address it. "You've abandoned your duty to God. Your duty to Heaven. I will do what I must."

"Heaven? Where I sat for thousands of years away from home. Waiting on orders that would never come. For a Father we haven't seen." Now there were tears brimming in her eyes. "Please, just let me go."

"I need to fix that." Naomi said as if she'd not heard her. Her tool was in her hand and she stepped forward.

"No, no." Anna must have had flashbacks to every time before that she'd undergone treatment in Naomi's chair. She'd been a frequent visitor after all. She struggled again. "No, just let me go."

"I am sorry, Anael. Truly, I am." Naomi was sorry. Sorry she had to deal with rogues, sorry that angels did not do their duty. She didn't like taking away their memories, nor hurting them. But it was the only way to fix them. The only way to protect Heaven.

So the soft buzz of her tool filled the room and she closed the distance to work on the confined angel. Her struggles ceased when the tool made contact, her eyes glazed over. Naomi held her head steady as she dug into Anna's jumbled mind.

Anna didn't scream. Those who sat in Naomi's chair never did. But her mouth opened in a silent 'o' as blood ran from the corner of her eye. The lights in the office shifted to red and orange. Like a fire. The lights themselves were unconsciously controlled by Naomi's thoughts, but she didn't think too much about the change and what it meant.

Hours later, Naomi was through for the moment. She wasn't quite done, there were gaps and holes and a personality that was impossible to suppress. It seemed she would never be finished with Anna. But she called for Ion to take Anna back to the dungeons. Both of them needed a rest. There was time.

Anna's grace was returned, but she'd never be the same.

Naomi, angel of the Lord and leader of Heaven's Intelligence Division, wasn't pleasant unless it was necessary. She was rarely agreeable. And her beauty was terrifying rather than gentle. Naomi didn't quite feel like her name's meaning was all that accurate for herself either.

It didn't matter. For Naomi wasn't preoccupied with promises of millennia ago. Times had changed. She had a job to do, a duty to protect their home at whatever the cost. No matter who was left behind or what happened along the way.

Thankfully, Naomi wasn't like the others she had to work on. Naomi was loyal and steadfast. She was focused and assured, ambitious and ruthless. She knew what was best and acted on it. She displayed wisdom in the face of the unknown. Naomi would never abandon her duty for selfish gain, she'd never put Heaven in jeopardy for the sake of personal amusement. It wasn't like her.

There but for the grace of God, Naomi was nothing like Anna.


End file.
